Enter: Marine Captain Luffy
by illustratee
Summary: Trained at a young age, Luffy is now a marine captain at the age of 17. While working for his corrupted superiors, the World Government, he must decide for himself what is right and wrong. What will Luffy do when his life is torn apart by two opposing sides: the law that he must follow as a marine, or his own consciousness? AU. OCs. Possible character deaths.
1. Prologue

"I'm not gonna sell you. I'll kill you instead."

Luffy growled at the bandit that had pinned him on the ground with one foot on his head. _Where was Shanks? If he was here, then these bandits would be begging for their lives by now!_ He looked around and saw the mixed emotions on everyone's faces. They looked worried… scared… and uncertain of what to do. _If only I was stronger! Then this wouldn't have to happen! I wouldn't have to put everyone else through this!_

Luffy continued to struggle underneath Higuma, whose sword was carefully aimed at his head. Gritting his teeth in anger, he braced myself for the fatal blow that was to come. However, before Higuma could swing his sword down, an angry voice boomed through the streets of Foosha Village.

"What the hell are you doing…" the silhouette of a man began to shout. _Could it be Shanks?_ , "… to my grandson!"

Luffy's jaw dropped in horror after spotting his grandfather, Monkey D. Garp, angrily storming down the street towards them. He struggled to get up even harder this time. However, not because of the bandits that now seemed like a minor threat. Instead, Luffy was desperately trying to get away from the smack down that his grandfather was surely about to give.

"Oh? Who's this now?" Higuma asked, unaware of the looming danger that was Garp. "Is that your grandpa coming to rescue you? How cute."

"You're damn right I am!" Garp threw his white coat with the word "Justice" on the ground. While rolling up his sleeves and then cracking his knuckles, he growled in a quiet, yet threatening voice, "Boy, you better be prepared because I'm about to whoop your ass like there's no tomorrow."

Finally taking his foot off of Luffy's head, Higuma turned his body towards Garp and took a few steps towards him. "I notice that you're a marine. So for a sea-bound geezer such as yourself, I'm sure that you are unaware of how dangerous bandits really are. Unfortunately for you though, the price for that is your head!"

They stood face to face, only inches apart from each other. However, even with the tension in the air, the surrounding villagers could easily tell that Garp was the stronger person, just by the atmosphere he was giving off.

The fight between Higuma and Garp began but it was already over before everyone else even realized it. In three seconds, Higuma had attempted to slash his sword at Garp, who quickly sidestepped it, grabbed Higuma's jacket collar, and then gave him one heck of a punch to the face that he would never forget. Higuma was now lying unconscious on the ground, while Garp was laughing about how easy the fight was.

"Bwahahaha!" Garp laughed, "You weak piece of trash, don't show your face here again!"

While the other bandits quickly carried Higuma away, the mayor asked, "Shouldn't you be arresting them, Garp?"

"If anyone asks, I'll just say they got away." he replied, to which the villagers dropped their jaws in response. "Actually, I think I have more important matters to attend to…" Garp muttered while spotting Luffy trying to quietly sneak away. "Where do you think you're going, Luffy?!"

Before Luffy had a chance to respond, Garp marched towards him and demanded, "Why the hell were you picking fights with bandits?! And to make it worse, why were you losing to them?!"

"But he's only a child, Garp!" defended Makino, "Don't blame him, there was nothing anyone could do about it. It was a good thing that you got here when you did."

"There's no excuses for Luffy! I didn't throw him in valleys and dangerous forests for nothing!" Everyone started sweating bullets, unsure about whether or not they should call social services. "Luffy, from now on, you're coming with me to train to become a marine!"

Luffy immediately became angry, "What?! Why the heck would I do that! You can't make me go! I want to be a pirate, just like Shanks!"

"Stop speaking such nonsense!" Garp shouted at him.

"It's not nonsense! If Shanks was here, then he would have defeated those bandits twice as fast as you!"

Garp sighed and bent down so he was face to face with Luffy, "But he wasn't here, Luffy. You have to realize that he's not always going to be here to help you. So what are you going to do then? Who's going to save you the next time you're in trouble and both Shanks and I aren't here?" Luffy became silent as he stared at the ground.

Garp continued, "And it's not just your life either. Everyone else in this village was in danger too! Do you want to grow up to be the kind of person who can't protect anyone, let alone yourself?!"

Everyone carefully watched Luffy as he continued to stare at the ground, thinking about what Garp just said. It was true that Luffy wanted to be just like Shanks, but he thought about how it was his grandfather who saved him today and not Shanks. And how during that time before he ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi, Shanks didn't even stand up for himself in front of the bandits. Finally, Luffy came to his decision and quietly said, "I'll go with you."

The villagers were stunned to hear this boy, who just recently was boasting about how he would become the Pirate King, agree to become a marine.

Garp let out a big grin and said, "Good! You finally have your priorities straight! Pack your bags because we're leaving now."

As the two of them walked away, Makino gently said, "Poor Luffy… It must have been a difficult decision for him…"

The mayor muttered, "Well, it's for the best. Who knows what kind of person he would have become if he was a pirate?" Makino didn't reply as she sadly watched Luffy's silhouette walk away, growing smaller and smaller.

* * *

 **Two Months Later**

 **"** Luffy, you better put on that suit or else I'm gonna give you my fist of love!" Garp barked while tying his tie.

"But it's too tight!" complained Luffy, who was furiously pulling at his collar, "Why do I have to wear this?!"

Garp sighed and turned away from his mirror to face Luffy, "Listen up because I'm only going to tell you this once. Lately, I've been keeping some things secret from you, but I'm going to tell you this now." With new interest in what Garp was about to say, Luffy stopped what he was doing to look at him.

"Right now, the World Government is unsure of what to do with you." After seeing the confused look on Luffy's face, Garp sighed and continued, "In the world right now, your father is starting to make himself known for going against the World Government. Whether it's for the best or not, I really don't know. However, what I do know is that your father's actions are stopping you from becoming a marine."

"What? Are those people stupid?" Luffy tilted his head, "What does dad have to do with anything? We're two different people!"

Garp smiled, enjoying Luffy's innocence from the real world around him. He bent down to help tie his tie and explained "I know that, Luffy. But the dimwits up there in the government seem to think differently! So that's why we have to dress up and go set their minds straight!" He looked at Luffy's face to notice that he had fallen fast asleep.

With a vein popping out of his forehead, Garp threw a punch at Luffy's head and growled, "Taste my fist of love, punk!" While Luffy shot straight up and rubbed the bump that was forming on head, Garp grumbled, "We better get going soon or we're going to be late."

Three hours later, Luffy and Garp arrived at their destination of Marineford. Walking through the long, narrow halls towards their meeting room, even Luffy was capable of understanding the serious tone that his grandfather was giving off.

"Hey gramps, what's wrong?" Luffy asked while tugging on Garp's shirt.

He looked at Luffy and sighed, "Nothing you need to worry about right now. When we walk in to that room, Luffy, I need you to promise me that you'll keep your mouth shut, okay?"

Not completely sure why his grandfather was asking him of this, Luffy only gave him a nod and said "Okay."

"Good." He replied. While nearing the end of the corridor, Garp could only think about all of the possible ways that the meeting could go wrong. _In the worst case scenario_ , he thought, _Luffy would be taken away and executed. He would either be labeled as a potential threat for the future, or an example for his father. Maybe even both…_

Standing in front of the closed double doors, an average looking man wearing a marine uniform was waiting for them. After noticing their arrival, he took out his den den mushi and quietly spoke into it. A moment later, he looked up at Garp and said "They are ready for you. You two may enter."

Before taking another step, Garp took a deep breath, pushed open the doors, and then walked in. Luffy quietly followed behind him, and little did he know that some of the most powerful people in the world were sitting down at the "U" shaped table in front of him. On one side, sat the Fleet Admiral Sengoku, and Admiral Aokiji. On the other side, sat two of the Shichibukai, Dracule Mihawk and Bartholomew Kuma. Finally, at the end of the table was a single member of the Gorosei (whose name I don't know, so I'll just refer to him as "The Gorosei".)

Noticing the two walk in, Mihawk immediately stopped the argument that he was having with Sengoku about why he was needed at this meeting. Sengoku cleared his throat and said "Please, sit down."

Luffy and Garp sat down at the only seats available, which was at opposite sides of the table from each other. Garp sat next to Sengoku and Luffy sat next to Kuma. Right after sitting down, Luffy immediately started fidgeting in his seat before he noticed the palms of Kuma's hands.

"Can I see your weird paws?" Luffy asked him, forgetting about the promise he made to Garp. Luffy quickly stopped talking after noticing the daggers that Garp was staring into him. He gulped and sat completely still afterwards.

"We will now begin our meeting." The Gorosei announced, "Today, we will be deciding on the fate of Monkey D. Luffy. We will decide whether such a young boy will be allowed to join the marines, or be subjected to other… concerns…"

A low growl was heard by Sengoku from Garp, but feeling sympathy for Garp and Luffy, he chose to ignore it.

"First," The Gorosei continued, "We shall discuss the reasons why this young boy should not be allowed into the marines. Kuma, you may begin."

Kuma stood up from his seat and took out a piece of paper that he had hidden in his Bible. Reading the paper out loud in an emotionless voice, it was difficult to tell what he was thinking, "Monkey D. Luffy is only a child who is not ready to bare the burdens of the marines. His physical and mental state is currently not capable of handling the dangerous life that comes with joining a military force for the World Government. Furthermore, his father is none other than Dragon the Revolutionary." Luffy leaned forward after hearing his father's name for the first time.

He continued "Even though only a select group of people is currently aware of this fact, there is still the possibility that the truth may come out. If this becomes the case, than it is almost certain that the marines, possibly even the World Government, will lose their respect from citizens around the world."

"Well, those were certainly good points that you had, Kuma." The Gorosei smiled and turned his head towards Sengoku. "What do you think we should do in order to prevent this from happening, Fleet Admiral?"

Garp gritted his teeth at the obvious set up this was. _They had planned this all along and weren't even going to give us a chance!_ He impatiently waited for the inevitable response that Sengoku was sure to give.

"In order to ensure the prevention of such a possible event…" Sengoku looked down at the table, his words heavy with regret, "I recommend… executing Monkey D. Luffy for the sake of… justice." He practically spat out the last words, baffled that he was even capable of saying them.

"Very well, whoever agrees, please raise your hand." Said The Gorosei.

Unaware of what the word "execute" even meant, Luffy curiously looked around the table to see that everyone except him and Garp had put their hands up.

"Sorry, kid." Mihawk muttered under his breath.

The Gorosei also looked around, satisfied by what he was seeing. "Then we have an answer-"

"Wait!" Garp stood up from his seat and slammed his fist against the table. "Don't give me those bullshit reasons and then sentence my grandson to death!" The Gorosei glared at him, but he continued to speak, "You and I both know very well that age is not an excuse when it comes to the World Government! Heck, people of the CP9 even begin training when they're toddlers!" The Gorosei was about to ask how Garp was even aware of the CP9, but he began to speak louder. "And especially don't go telling me that Luffy, himself, will be the reason for the World Government's downfall! I can promise you that won't be the case; in fact, it will be the complete opposite!"

Again, The Gorosei was about to speak, but this time, Sengoku spoke first. "How so?" He asked, prompting him to continue defending the child.

"If for some miracle, everyone were to find out about the identity of Luffy's father, then it would show them that even Dragon the Revolutionary's son is against him. It would not only give us more power against the Revolutionary Army, but it would also discourage Dragon."

"… And what do you think of this? Dragon is your son after all." Aokiji, who had been quiet the whole time, demanded.

"… I do not agree with my son's actions. If I did, than I would be a part of his army by now." Garp had looked directly at Luffy when he said those words, hoping that he was listening to this important conversation. But of course… he wasn't. Instead, he was staring intensely into his own hands, trying to make paw pads appear with sheer concentration.

"Now that I think about it, allowing that boy to work for the World Government as a marine does seem like a strategic plan…" Mihawk contemplated.

Sengoku added, "Yes, and if the day came, would even Dragon the Revolutionary be willing to fight against his own son?"

"Don't get ahead of yourselves now." Warned Aokiji, "There's always the possibility that Luffy could one day betray us and join his father's side instead."

"We must decide: is this a gamble that we are willing to take?" Asked Mihawk.

Kuma spoke in a clear and loud voice, "Yes, I am willing to bet my life on this boy." Everyone looked at him, utterly shocked at what they just heard. This man, who just moments ago was listing all of these reasons to go against Luffy, was now saying the complete opposite. Just what was he thinking?

"Well… if even Kuma here is willing to take the bet, then so am I." said Mihawk.

"I, as well." agreed Sengoku.

"Then I think there's nothing else to discuss now." Aokiji yawned, "I am curious to see how this boy will turn out."

"Yes, The Gorosei, it is clear of what we should do now. At this point, we need only your consent." Sengoku nodded.

The Gorosei sighed, clearly frustrated at how his perfectly planned meeting had turned out. He looked up and saw the eyes of everyone in the room on him, including Luffy. In a tight, quiet voice, The Gorosei declared "I hereby announce that Monkey D. Luffy is now a member of the marines starting today. The meeting is over. You may all leave now."

Not wanting to anger The Gorosei even more, Garp quickly grabbed Luffy and dragged him out of the room.

After closing the door behind him, Garp let out a shout of excitement and exclaimed, "We did it! Everything turned out great!"

"Does this mean I'm a marine now?" Luffy asked.

"Sure does, kid! Woo! One down, one to go!" he hollered.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't worry about it." he waved him off. "Let's just go home now and get you a brand new uniform!"

Outside of the building's entrance, Sengoku stopped them.

"Garp, what the hell were you trying to pull?" he asked.

Genuinely shocked by his question, Garp said "I was just trying to save this kid's life. Why are you so angry?"

He sighed, realizing that Garp really had no idea what he was talking about. "I meant that little outburst you had trying to defend Luffy. Don't get me wrong, it's great that you were able to save his life, but there are better ways of doing it then shouting at a member of the Gorosei! Your title as a marine hero can only go so far! I'm sure that even you understand that you shouldn't make an enemy of the leaders of our World Government."

"Everything's going to be fine, Sengoku! It's already been decided that Luffy's going to become one of us, so there's nothing to worry about!"

"I hope you're right, Garp, because if things end up terribly in the future, it's going to be yours and Luffy's head the government will be after. Just be careful from now on." With that, Sengoku turned around and left for his ship.

"Don't you worry about that." Garp muttered, "Luffy's going to be the best marine anyone has ever seen!"

A minute later, Garp took a deep breath and shouted at Sengoku's back, "HEY! DID YOU HEAR THAT, SENGOKU? I SAID THAT LUFFY'S GOING TO BE THE BEST DAMN MARINE THAT ANYONE HAS EVER SEEN! I PROMISE!"

Waving him off with the back of his hand, Sengoku only continued to walk away. However, what Garp couldn't see from where he was standing, was the smile that Sengoku had on his face.

* * *

 **Hey everyone, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! A few years ago, I had started another marine Luffy story but unfortunately, I never finished it. However, now that it's been a while, I'm attempting to try again and I will do my best to start and finish this story to the end! Please leave your reviews of what you thought of the first chapter and any suggestions that you may have! Thank you!**


	2. Chapter 1

**10 years later**

Sitting on the railing of his ship, Captain Monkey D. Luffy peacefully enjoyed the calm wind that was blowing in his face. He was wearing his usual red vest and blue shorts. He began to hum to the tune of a song that he had recently learned during his last mission.

"One of these days, you're going to fall into the ocean if you keep sitting there." warned a soft voice behind Luffy. He turned around and noticed that it was Commander Rei, the second in charge of this ship. She was thin, but fit from her training. She had straight black hair and striking green eyes.

Luffy laughed, "Then that just means you'll have to save me!"

She smiled and then sighed, "You're still singing that song too. Binks' Sake? You know that marines shouldn't be encouraging songs that are sung by pirates."

"Shishishishi! You know, I've always wanted to be a pirate when I was younger. I think I would have been a good one too!"

She sweatdropped, "That's not something a marine should say so lightly…"

He only laughed some more before asking, "So how's our new recruit doing?"

"Do you mean Coby? He's rather shy but I think that he'll do well with a bit more time and experience."

Luffy smiled, "Well that's good! He's a wimp so we'll have to do something about that…"

Rei laughed, "The only thing we're able to do right now is drop him off at a marine base. Then I can fill out the proper paper works (notice how she said "I" instead of "we" because let's admit it… Luffy would never do paper works) and the base there will decide where he gets positioned."

She looked over at Luffy to notice that he had fallen asleep. A vein popped out from her forehead before she struck him on the head with her fist.

"Woah!" Luffy shouted as he fell backwards. His legs wrapped around the railing, causing his body to hang upside down on it. "What was that for?! I almost fell into the ocean!"

"It was your own fault for not paying attention!" she shouted back at him.

"I just got bored! How much longer until we're there?" he asked, pulling himself back on deck.

She sighed, "If you would just look straight ahead, you'll see the island that we'll be stopping at; Shells Town, home of the 153rd branch and Captain Axe-Hand Morgan."

"We're almost there! There's gonna be lots of food there right? Ah, I can't wait!" he drooled.

She smirked, knowing full well about the kind of appetite that her captain had. "Don't worry, you'll get plenty of food…" Her jaw fell to the ground when she noticed that Luffy had already grabbed onto the railing, stretched his body to the other side of the ship, and flung himself into the sky ahead of them.

"I'll see you there!" Rei could barely hear him shouting from the distance. It took her a full 10 seconds before she got over her shock, started cursing at the sky, and then shouted at her crew members to go full speed ahead.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a small, closed off area in Shells Town, stood a man with a black bandana tied to a post. He glared daggers at the boy in front of him who had just stomped on a little girl's rice balls and then had her thrown over the fence.

The boy named Helmeppo only smiled at him and said, "You have some pretty good endurance. Let's hope it will last you the whole month." As he turned around and started walking away, Zoro couldn't help but notice a shadow flying above him. His eyes widened in shock when he realized that, that shadow was a person… who had just landed on Helmeppo.

"Hi, I'm Luffy. Who the hell are you?" asked Luffy, who was sitting on Helmeppo's back.

"Who the hell are YOU?!" Helmeppo screamed while getting out from underneath him.

"I just said that I'm Luffy. Are you stupid?" He tilted his head sideways.

Helmeppo's face turned red with rage as he could barely let out the words, "Do you know who I am?! Why the hell were you falling from the sky?!"

"I just thought I would get here before my crew did. Do you have any meat?"

"Crew?" Helmeppo sneered, "So you're a pirate, huh?"

Luffy only stared at him blanky. "You really are stupid." he observed.

Helmeppo's head started shaking violently before he noticed the blood that was dripping down his nose from the fall that he just had. He glowered at the boy who was making a complete mockery of his existence and the one next to him, Zoro, who had begun laughing at him and apparently couldn't stop. The marines by Helmeppo's side were profusely sweating at the thought of what might happen next.

* * *

"That idiot! I can't believe he would do something so reckless! Actually, I CAN believe it! I just can't believe that I didn't expect it sooner!" Rei paced back forth and from on her deck while her crew attempted, but miserably failed, to calm her down.

"Commander! We're here!" one of the subordinates shouted. Rei, who had been too focused on her ranting, looked up to the pleasant surprise that they were indeed, finally at Shells Town.

"Great! We'll split off in different directions to search for Luffy. Make sure you check the waters around here too to make sure he's not drowning somewhere. And Coby!" she shouted at the short, pink haired boy, who straightened at the sound of his name.

"Y-yes?" he stuttered.

"You're coming with me."

"Yes, Commander!" he said a little more confidently.

Together, the two of them walked around the streets of Shells Town, searching through every nook and cranny while calling out Luffy's name and asking residents if they had seen him. However, after an hour later, they still had no luck and ended up walking near the marine base.

"Geez, where can a loudmouth like Luffy even hide?" Rei asked, mostly to herself. "Well if he was in the waters, I'm sure that the others must have found him by now, so he can't be in too much trouble. We might as well drop you off at the base now-"

"Shh! I think I just heard something!" he shushed her, and then immediately turned a deep shade of red for doing that to the commander. "I-I'm sorry! I just heard a voice, so I thought it could be Luffy, but I probably just heard wrong…"

"It's okay! You need to be more confident in yourself, Coby!" she encouraged, "Besides, we're right in front of the base now, so there's a chance that Luffy could have gone in before us… Though I don't see why he would… Unless…" At the same time, both she and Coby looked at the closed fence next to the base with a sign that said in big, bolded letters "DO NOT ENTER".

"You don't think…" Coby began to ask.

"Oh, I know." she grumbled as she started storming towards the fence that was surrounded by tall, stone walls. With Coby following right behind her, she opened the gate that had been left unlocked.

The first thing she noticed when she walked into the courtyard was someone tied to the post. With a closer inspection, she realized that it wasn't her captain and then sighed in relief. ' _He… looks just like Rornoa Zoro_ ', she thought, ' _Yes that must be him! He must be the one that I heard some of the citizen's talking about…_ '

Slowly looking up from the ground, Zoro glared at the two new people in front of him. "What do you want?" he asked.

Coby shivered from the intimidating person before him while Rei gulped and imagined all of the evil deeds that he must be capable of doing. With an even closer look at him, she realized that there was someone else tied on the other side of the post with him. ' _Who's the poor guy who has to be stuck with this demon?_ ' she wondered.

The rubber man with black hair and a scar under his left turned his head to look at them.

"Yo!" Luffy hollered while trying to wave his hand that was tied up. Horrified, Rei and Coby's jaws dropped to the ground at the sight of their Captain.

"…"

"…"

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!" Rei exploded, after getting over her initial shock.

"I got tied up." Luffy turned his head a full 180 degrees to look at them.

A vein popped out of her forehead. "I can see that! But why?! And why are you with Roronoa Zoro too?!"

Luffy tilted his head. "Huh? Is that your name?" he asked Zoro, who replied with a "Yeah."

"YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHO HE WAS?!" Rei and Coby both shouted this time.

Rei sighed, "Forget about it, that's not important right now. First off, who tied you up? Second off, why didn't you just stretch your fingers to untie yourself?"

Luffy laughed, "Shishishi, well…"

 **1 hour ago**

"One hour." Luffy huffed stubbornly while Helmeppo's marine guards began to tie his arms to the post. "I'll only stay here for one hour."

Helmeppo gritted his teeth, "Listen here! I don't think you understand the situation you're in! I am marine Captain Morgan's son! So you're going to stay here for as long as I want or else I'll report my father to you!"

"Look, I'm sorry for falling on you but I can't stay here for too long. My crew is waiting for me! In one hour, I'm leaving to look for them!"

"Humph! I'm sure that petty little pirate crew of yours won't even miss you!" he turned around and marched away while calling out, "Let's see how long you can last!"

 **Present Time**

"And that's what happened." Luffy finished with a big grin on his face.

"So let me get this straight…" Rei said slowly, "When you launched yourself into the sky and landed on top of that Helmeppo guy, he decided to tie you up here without any indication of how long he would leave you here?"

"Yep."

She frowned, "Even if you did accidentally hurt him, that is still a serious offense against an officer. Why didn't you say or do anything about it?"

He shrugged, "I didn't think it was important."

'Many other marines would think differently.' Rei mused, 'This guy… he surprises me every day.'

"Luffy, it's been an hour already. Aren't you going to untie yourself?" Coby pointed out.

"Oh, that's right! Shishishi, time sure went by fast…" Luffy stretched his fingers to untie the ropes that were binding him to the post. They were easy enough to untie due to the rope tying lessons that Luffy had to take part in during his training. Then, he walked over to the other side and began to untie Zoro's ropes.

"Hey, hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Zoro growled at him.

"Yeah, what are you doing?!" Coby and Rei both demanded.

"I'm untying him. He's a good guy, so he doesn't deserve to be here."

Rei wanted to stop her Captain from freeing the pirate hunter, but she was well aware of the good sense of morality that Luffy had. If he said that someone was a good person, even if it was a demon, then she wouldn't doubt him.

"Don't I get any say in this?!" Zoro complained, "I have my own pride too, you know! I'm not going to break my promise of surviving here for one month!"

Rei's eyes widened a bit, "What was that?"

"That damn brat let his pet wolf run wild, so I killed it. So he tied me up and promised me freedom if I can stay here for a month. Hey, stop untying me already!" he shouted at Luffy, who started pouting at him.

Rei shared a knowing look with Coby. "I don't think that's going to happen…" she said.

Zoro glared at her, "What did you just say?"

"Well… when Coby and I were looking for Luffy, we heard this guy, Helmeppo I think, bragging about how he was going to execute you in three days. But now that I know the full story, there's definitely a problem here… Luffy, I think we're going to have to investigate this town a little more before we leave."

"That little piece of shit! Hey, Luffy, you can untie me now."

While he continued to untie Zoro's ropes, Luffy asked, "Why do we need to investigate this town?"

"Use your head a little!" Rei scolded, "We've only been here for an hour and we've already seen more than enough corruption going on with the marine officers here. When Coby and I were walking around, we also asked some of the residents where we could find Captain Morgan. However, they all seemed terrified just from hearing his name."

Luffy frowned, "That's not right… Unless you're a criminal, you should feel happy and safe when there's a marine."

She began to wonder how her captain could have been a marine for so long, yet still be so ignorant of the world around him. She was going to ask him this, but Zoro beat her to it.

"How the hell can you be so naïve?" He demanded. "This world that we live in is full of horrible people and marines aren't an exception!"

Then, as if it was some fated coincidence that would prove his point, something unexpected happened. From the tall blue building nearby, a bullet was fired. Then another. And another. And another. In a split second, Zoro had gone from calmly standing firm with his two feet, to clutching his body and staggering on the ground. Everyone watched in shock as he began to cough up blood.

"Damn it, I let my guard down…" he grimaced.

Luffy was still startled as he continued to watch this man, who had been punished for helping the citizens of this town, fall to his knees with blood soaking through his clothing. While Coby and Rei quickly ran to Zoro's side, Luffy clenched his fists and glared in the direction of the marine base, at the man who was responsible for this. From the top of the building, Axe-Hand Morgan stared back at Luffy with cold and unwavering eyes.

* * *

 **5 minutes earlier**

"Make sure that there's not a single scratch on it!" Morgan barked.

His subordinates, hard at work, struggled to haul the gigantic statue towards the perfect centered position on the roof.

"Why is something like this even necessary?" mumbled one of the newer recruits.

"What was that?!" Morgan immediately marched towards him and lifted him up in the air by the neck. The subordinate couldn't let out a single word as he grabbed onto Morgan's arm, trying to breathe.

"This statue is a symbol of my power and wealth!" Morgan roared at him, "Disrespect the statue and you disrespect me!" With that, Morgan lifted his right arm and with his trademark axe-hand, sliced the new recruit. The body went limp before Morgan dropped him on the floor with a heavy thud. "Let this be an example to everyone else! This is what happens when you question me!"

While Morgan slowly walked past everyone else, the other subordinates looked around frantically, trying to avoid staring directly at the dead body or Morgan's eyes. Morgan stopped at the edge of the roof, admiring the town that was completely at his mercy.

"With this axe-hand that I have, I have risen to the rank of a captain. And in this world, rank is…" Morgan stopped when he noticed some people that he had never seen before in the distance. "Helmeppo!"

Helmeppo, who was nonchalantly standing off to the side, quickly stood up straighter at the sound of his name. "Yes?"

"Did you sentence more people to the post?" Morgan asked, suddenly remembering a report of a marine ship arriving in town. He swore under his breath, regretting his decision to quickly dismiss the report to focus on his statue. With a closer look, he recognized the red vest and black hair that one of them had.

"Oh, yes, I almost forgot about that. I think his name was Luppy? Luffy? Well it doesn't matter, he said his crew was waiting for him, but I seriously doubt that they'll wait long for a piece of trash like him…" Helmeppo gulped when he noticed his father's face turn red from rage.

"Did you perhaps think he was talking about a pirate crew?" Morgan seethed. When Helmeppo gave a small nod, Morgan screamed, "DID YOU NOT PERHAPS THINK HE WAS TALKING ABOUT A MARINE CREW INSTEAD?!"

Everyone jumped at his sudden explosion, shaking from the menace that was their Captain.

"I-it n-never even crossed my mind!" Helmeppo weakly tried to defend himself, "He wasn't even wearing a uniform! He couldn't possibly be a marine!"

"YOU IDIOT!" Morgan used his left fist to punch his son in the face. Helmeppo was shocked that his father had laid a hand on him for the first time.

Morgan continued, "He's not just any marine either! The one down there is none other than Monkey D. Luffy, a captain just like me! And the one's surrounding him must be some of the people from his crew!" Helmeppo looked down from the roof, surprised that there were more people down there.

"Do you know what this means?!" demanded Morgan. "It means that once that they get out of there, they're going to report me to the higher ups! Then there goes all of the power that I've worked towards!"

"Then what do we do?!" Helmeppo asked, suddenly fearfully of the idea of losing his title as the child of a marine captain.

Morgan looked at his son and each of his subordinates in the eyes. Then, in a suddenly calm voice he said, "We don't let them go."

Everyone gulped, terrified at the idea of what their captain was implying. "Sir?" one of them asked.

Morgan walked back to the edge of the roof to look at the man who could potentially jeopardize his career. "Shoot them. All of them."

* * *

 **Thank you everyone for all of the reviews last chapter, I read all of them so keep them coming :) If you have any questions then feel free to ask and I will answer them to the best of my abilities! Also from now on, I will be posting a new chapter every 2-4 weeks on Saturdays.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone, I'm so sorry this chapter took so long to post, I was originally going to post it last week, but I ended up having too much homework to finish it! (I still have a lot of homework...) But anyway, I finally finished this chapter and I made it longer than I expected, so I hope you enjoy! :)**

* * *

"Here, take this and wrap it around Zoro to stop the bleeding!" Rei ripped off part of her uniform and handed it to Coby.

"B-but, we have to get to cover!" Coby argued, "They're going to keep firing at us!"

Her voice was steady from experience. "Don't worry about that! Luffy is the only cover we need."

Confused by her words, Coby looked past the commander to find Luffy standing in front of them, using his body to guard against the gunfire. Astonished by what he was seeing, Coby realized that the bullets weren't going through Luffy's body, but instead were rebounding into random directions away from them.

 _'What a sight!'_ Coby thought in awe, _'Incredible…'_

"Coby!" Luffy called from behind his back, "Are you done helping Zoro, yet?"

"Uh, almost!" In a rush, Coby quickly wrapped the cloth around Zoro's chest.

"Listen up, Coby." Luffy said in a serious tone, "A minute from now, I'm going to run towards the building of the marine base. I want you to help Rei carry Zoro and follow close behind me. The three of you will hide somewhere safe inside the base. Take good care of Zoro, okay?" He turned around and grinned at him, "He's an interesting guy. I wouldn't want something to happen to him."

"But what are you going to do when we go inside?" Coby furrowed his eyebrows. However, without even listening to Coby's question, Luffy had already started running towards the building. In a panic, Coby helped Zoro to his feet. Rei quickly came to their side and the three of them tried their best to catch up with Luffy.

"Don't worry about him." Rei assured him. Still anxious of what would happen next, Coby turned his head to look at her. She smiled, "Luffy will take care of things. He always does. He'll take down Morgan and then everything will be fine."

Listening to her words, Coby couldn't help but notice the one and only emotion in her voice at that moment: admiration. He could tell that despite Luffy's childish manner that made him seem unreliable, Rei thought of him as the complete opposite. That he could be someone to be depended on. In this thought alone, Coby found some comfort while seeing Luffy in a new way.

Almost reaching his destination, Luffy began to think of the fastest way to reach Morgan. "Oh! Duh!" he realized. Then without any hesitation, Luffy stretched his arms all the way to the roof of the marine base and flung himself up into the sky.

* * *

"Pull harder!" Morgan shouted. He glared at his subordinates who were trying their best to pull the ropes that would bring the statue upright. "Freaking slackers." He grumbled, "You guys over there! Did you get rid of those kids yet?!" He shouted at the rest of his subordinates who were still shooting.

"No, sir!" One of them replied.

"What the hell are you idiots doing?! A simple task like this shouldn't be taking so long!" He roared.

"Well, you see… they have actually started running towards us, sir… and they're now quite close…" The marine's eyes opened wider when he noticed that the one known as Luffy was coming flying through the air at them. "Whaa…" He backed up, alarmed by what he was seeing.

Soon after that, Luffy landed perfectly on the giant statue that finally stood upright. However, the force, combined with the angle of Luffy's landing caused the statue to fall back down, shattering into thousands of tiny pieces.

"Whoa! What a mess!" Luffy observed. "Hmm? What're you guys staring at?" He looked around at everyone's faces. They were all filled with complete horror, except for one. Morgan, who was now at the end of his already low patience, seethed in rage.

"What. The. Hell. Did. You. DO?!" He screamed.

Completely ignoring what he just said, Luffy looked at Morgan straight in the eyes and declared, "Captain Axe-Hand Morgan of the 153rd branch, you are now under arrest."

* * *

"Did he really just do that?" Coby asked, incredulous at the sight of Luffy flying towards the roof.

"What else do you expect from him? Now hurry inside while they're all too distracted to fire at us!" Rei urged. Getting over his shock, Coby caught up with Rei, who was helping Zoro run.

"We're finally inside!" sighed Rei, "Let's hide in one of the rooms for the time being."

They headed to the closest room nearby. It was a small room with an abundance of random objects. From boxes full of maps, to shelves of cleaning supplies, it was all there. Well, everything except windows.

"Great. The storage room." Zoro grumbled.

"Well it looks like you've finally gotten some energy back." Rei noted while helping Zoro to a nearby chair.

"Yeah, well, thanks for helping me just now." He looked away, ashamed at himself for needing help in the first place.

"Don't even mention it." She nodded.

"So do we just wait here now?" Coby asked.

"Yes, you and Zoro will wait here until everything is settled. I'm going up to the roof to check on Luffy." She replied.

 _'She's going alone?'_ Coby thought, 'But I want to go too… I just want to help…'

"I'm leaving now, so if you two have something to tell me, then say it now." She warned.

 _'Should I ask to go too? What if it's too dangerous though?'_

After a moment of silence, Rei said "Alright then, I'm— "

"Wait!"

Coby and Rei both looked at Zoro, surprised by his outburst.

"When I got tied up, that stupid Helmeppo took my swords. So when you go out, can you look for them as well?" He asked.

"Sure." Rei smiled before she began to walk out the door.

"Wait, please, let me come too!" Coby pleaded.

She turned around and looked at him. There was a desperate look on his face that wasn't there a moment ago. "What's up all of a sudden?" She asked.

"I-I just want to be of help too…" He suddenly lost his confidence.

She smiled sadly, understanding how he felt. "Coby, don't forget that Zoro is still hurt. Remember what Luffy said? To take care of him? That's what I need you to do right now. This isn't just simple task to keep you busy. It's a mission assigned to you by Luffy."

Coby looked up at her face. He was still feeling uncertain but he said "Okay, I'll stay."

Rei smiled "Thank you. I know this is tough since you're still new at this, but please do your best. The building looked mainly empty so I think it should be fine. Please be careful." With that, she turned around and left, closing the door behind her.

A minute passed by and Coby was still staring at the closed door, trying his best to swallow down his regret. A few awkward seconds later, Zoro finally broke the silence.

"Just get out of here already!" He scowled.

Coby blinked, "Huh?"

"Don't 'huh' me. If you want to go, then just go!"

"But I was told to stay here and protect you!' He cried.

Zoro glared at him like a ferocious wolf about to attack its prey. "I'm not a helpless child that needs to be protected! I'm going to be the world's greatest swordsman so I don't need a kid like you worrying about me!" He suddenly stood up to emphasize his point. However, the abrupt movement of his body caused his bullet wounds to start gushing out a fountain of blood again.

Coby's jaw dropped before he shouted angrily "Like I'm going to leave you in a state like this!"

Completely unfazed by his reopened wound, Zoro shouted back "I'm fine!"

"You're not!" For the first time in his life, Coby was able to stare down another person as he stood his ground. However, as the blood continued to drain out of Zoro's body, Coby realized that now wasn't the best moment to have a staring contest. After quickly finding a first aid kit in the storage room that they were in, Coby stopped the bleeding and rewrapped Zoro's chest with some gauze.

Coby sat down on the floor and sighed "Even if I did go, I wouldn't be able to do anything. I'm not even an official marine yet. I haven't had any training or experience like Luffy and Rei. It would be too dangerous for me."

"So what?!" Zoro demanded "If want some experience than why not start now? And if you're worried about the danger, then you might as well quit before you even begin!"

Coby looked at him, surprised by his words. Zoro continued "I'm not an expert or anything but isn't joining the marines a dangerous job to begin with? If you're worried about getting hurt, then just leave already because they sure as hell don't need a scaredy cat like you!"

Coby sat there in silence, carefully thinking over Zoro's words. Finally, he let out a whisper "I'm not a scaredy cat…"

"I can't hear you!" Zoro provoked.

Coby stood up "I said I'm not a scaredy cat! From the moment I met Luffy on Alvida's ship, I promised myself that I would be willing to risk my life for this job!"

"So then what are you going to do now?" He asked.

"I'm going to…" He gulped "I'm going to go help Luffy whether he wants me to or not!"

As Zoro watched Coby storm out of the room, he grabbed a beer bottle from a nearby box and took a swig. He smirked "I've only known your Captain for a short amount of time, but I'll be damned if he doesn't feel proud of you."

* * *

 _'If I were Helmeppo, where would I hide some swords?'_

After leaving the storage room, Rei immediately headed toward the front counter, figuring that there would be a map there. Just as she had thought, after rummaging through some drawers, she had found a map.

Rei sighed in frustration 'I don't have any time for this…'

Suddenly hearing some footsteps approaching, Rei hid behind the front counter. A few seconds later, she spotted about 5 marines walking down the hall in her direction. From their cheerful atmosphere, Rei guessed that they had just come from a break.

 _'Perfect!'_ She smiled, a plan forming in her mind.

Patiently kneeling behind the counter, Rei waited for her chance to pop out. When they were finally close enough, Rei casually stood up from her position, in plain sight of the other marines. Confused by this new person before them, who was also wearing a marine uniform, they stared at her blankly.

She flashed them a smile "I'm going to need to tie you guys up for the time being."

"What?!" Suddenly aware of the strange marine, who was now a threat, they all brought out their guns and aimed it at her head.

"Now, now, don't you think that's a bit too much for just one girl?" She asked innocently. "Because I don't."

Less then ten minutes later, Rei was finishing up with tying up the last marine with some rope.

"Sorry guys!" She apologized sincerely, "I can't risk having any of you find those two people." With her back turned the other way, she didn't notice a short boy with pink hair leave a certain room and sneak away.

"Now let's see…" She scanned the crowd of marines. After recognizing one of them from the description of Luffy's story with Helmeppo, Rei exclaimed "Oh! You're the one!" She pointed at one of them. "You're the one who was with Helmeppo in Luffy's story!" After helping him up without untying his ropes, Rei told him "You're going to come with me."

As the two of them walked away, the group of marines who were still on the floor began whispering among themselves.

"Where do you think she's taking him?"

"Who knows, but he's probably a goner now!"

"I wish I could help him…"

"Don't worry, the others who are coming back from break will be here soon. Then we'll get back at her."

"I wonder who the other two are… The ones that she didn't want us to find..."

* * *

"Just tell me where Helmeppo put Zoro's swords." Rei gritted her teeth in frustration as she dragged the marine by his collar down the hallway.

"Never." He said stubbornly.

She suddenly let go of his collar and bent down to look him in the eyes. "What's your name?"

Unable to keep the intense eye contact that she was giving him, he looked away and muttered "Daichi."

"Okay well listen here, Daichi. I need to find Zoro's swords right away. So I can return them to him and then go check on my Captain. It's not like I'm worried about him losing or anything though. My Captain can beat your Captain's ass any day. But you never know what Luffy's thinking, so if I'm not careful, he could do something stupid enough to land me a bunch of paper work that I don't want to do."

Somewhere in the middle of Rei's speech, Daichi's eyes began to slowly widen. "Did you say that… your Captain is fighting Morgan?" He asked. When she nodded, he took a deep breath to calm himself. "And for what reason do they have to fight?"

Rei scratched her head, confused by his sudden change of attitude. "What other reason is there then to arrest him? You, a subordinate under him, should know just how much of a corrupted tyrant he is."

"The swords are on the third floor, two doors down from the right of the staircase." He said, almost too excitedly.

She blinked "Um… thanks…"

On the way up, Daichi explained "Everyone hates Morgan. But we're all too scared to say anything about it. If you do one wrong thing or if you catch him in a bad mood, then he'll punish you without a second thought. This doesn't just apply to us, but also all of the citizens as well. When I first joined the marine and got transferred here, I didn't expect my job to be like this…"

Rei gave him a sad look "Being a marine isn't supposed to be like this. And it's not going to be anymore as long as Luffy and I are here."

* * *

"Sir! Our guns aren't working on him!"

"What the hell are you?!" Morgan roared in frustration.

"A rubberman!" Luffy roared back at him. "You small fries need to get out of the way!" He stretched his leg across the roof and swung it to the side, carrying most of the marines to the very edge of the building, but not close enough for them to fall off.

"You said you're going to arrest me, huh?" Morgan sneered, "That's not happening!" He charged at Luffy, aiming his axe-hand at his head. "I've worked too hard for the status I've gained!" When he swung his arm down, Luffy ducked and then head butted Morgan right in his steel jaw. Morgan stepped back in shock at the pain he felt from that attack.

"I don't care about your freaking status!" yelled Luffy, "Why the hell would I give a crap about any of that?"

"How dare you! Status is everything in this work! It is what instills fear and obedience into the minds of the inferior!" He tried to strike Luffy again but missed.

"Does fear and obedience feed your stomach?" Luffy asked before he punched him in the stomach. Morgan stepped back and grunted in pain. "Does it help the people around you?" He gave Morgan another punch in the head. "Does it stop bastards like you from abusing innocent people?!" Finally, he grabbed Morgan's shoulders and then pulled him back to knee him in the stomach. Morgan collapsed on the floor.

Astonished by what just happened, all of the other marines just stood there silently.

"Is it… really over?" One of them asked. Then, as if to answer his question, another voice spoke up.

"What… happened?!" Everyone turned their heads and looked at Helmeppo, who had his mouth open. Before the battle had begun, Helmeppo had snuck away downstairs during the commotion that Luffy had caused. Now, back from wherever he was, he stood, unbelieving, that his father was just defeated.

"D-Don't move an inch!" With his body shaking from a mixture of fear and anger, Helmeppo pulled out his gun and aimed it at Luffy.

"Forget about it. That's not going to work on me." Luffy said as he began to walk towards him.

"I said stop!" He screeched, "It may not work on you, but what about him!" From behind his back, he pulled Coby right next to him. He had his arms tied behind his back and tape over his mouth. Helmeppo pointed his gun at Coby's head before ripping the tape off of his mouth.

"I'm so sorry, Luffy!" Coby cried.

Luffy stopped walking towards them. "Coby? Didn't I tell you to hide downstairs?"

"You did, but I ignored you. I'm sorry, I only wanted to help for once, but I've only caused you trouble!" He was on the verge of tears by now.

Helmeppo laughed "That's right, you stupid piece of trash! You're so worthless, you can't even do a single thing like help your Captain out! Now you're going to pay for it with your life!"

Luffy frowned, "Are you going to let him talk to you like that, Coby?"

Coby looked up from the ground and at Luffy's face. When Luffy saw the hesitation still on Coby's face, he continued "Don't you remember what you said to me on Alvida's ship?"

He stared at the unreadable expression on Luffy's face and took a deep breath, "I said that I'd be willing to die for my dreams."

"So are you telling me now that what you said was a lie?" He demanded.

Instinctively, Coby cried out "No! Of course not! I… I…" A realization suddenly dawned on him. _'How stupid am I?'_ He wondered to himself, _'I almost lost myself once again…'_

A determined look came on his face "If I have to die for my dreams, then so be it!" He shouted, causing Helmeppo to almost drop his gun in surprise. "Ever since I met you on Alvida's ship, Luffy, I swore to give up my cowardice in order to chase my dreams. You've inspired me so much in such a short amount of time. So that's why… that's why… I'M NOT AFRAID TO DIE!"

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed, "I think I'm starting to like you! You heard him, Helmeppo! Coby's not afraid to die, so what are you going to do now?"

Flustered, Helmeppo's face turned red as his head started shaking in rage. "Don't give me that 'not afraid to die' crap! If you really believe in that, then let's put it to the test!" With the gun still aimed at Coby's head, Helmeppo lightly rested his finger on the trigger and closed his eyes.

 _'I'm really going to shoot!'_ Helmeppo thought nervously.

 _'He's really going to shoot!'_ Coby's heart raced like never before.

 _'Is he really going to shoot?'_ Luffy wondered, excitedly.

* * *

"Oh, the swords are actually here!" Rei smiled.

"I told you I would tell you where they are! Now can you please untie me?" He whined.

"Wow, I've heard stories that Roronoa Zoro uses three swords, but I didn't think it was actually true!" She marvelled while untying Daichi's ropes, "I wonder how he does it?"

"Yeah well, we better get back now." He rubbed the bruises from the ropes, "The other guys will probably be back from break soon. If they see the mess that you left, then they'll immediately arrest your friends. The worst outcome is that Captain Morgan could have sent a message through a den den mushi to kill them on the spot."

"…"

"…"

"WHAT?!" She exploded, "You couldn't have bothered to tell me about this earlier?!"

"I didn't even think about it until now." His face turned red.

Without wasting another second, Rei ran back downstairs as fast as she could, practically flying down the staircases. 'Please don't let it be too late!' She prayed. When she finally reached the first floor, the first thing that she noticed was that the marines she had tied up were missing. The second thing that she noticed was the wide open door that led to the storage room. "Shit!" She ran into the room.

When she got inside, she saw about a dozen marines surrounding Zoro against a wall. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a few other marines unconscious on the floor. She figured that they were from Zoro's attempt at fighting back barehanded while wounded.

"Zoro!" She called out to him.

"About time!" He shouted, "Throw me my swords!"

She threw all three swords into the air, just above everyone's heads. In the blink of an eye, Zoro unsheathed them and took down all of the marines that were surrounding him with the hilt of his swords. Rei's jaw dropped in awe at the sight before her.

With a sword still clenched between his teeth, Zoro smiled deviously, "I'm back."

* * *

Sweat dropped from Coby's forehead as he waited for the bullet that would kill him. After waiting a few more seconds and it still didn't come, he opened his eyes and looked at Helmeppo. He was shocked to see that Helmeppo was no longer pointing a gun at his head. Instead, he was shaking from head to toe. This time, in fear. Coby slowly turned his head in Luffy's direction and was in an even bigger shock to see that Luffy had also pulled out a gun, and was now aiming it at Helmeppo.

"Shishishi." Luffy laughed, "While I was on a mission one time, I met a certain pirate group. I heard one of them say that a gun wasn't a toy."

 _'Is this really Luffy?'_ Coby's eyes widened. Never would he have thought that Luffy was the kind of person to use a gun. _'He looks much more… intimidating…'_

"I don't even like using guns." Luffy began to slowly walk towards Helmeppo, his gun still pointed at his head, "I don't know much about them." Helmeppo began to back away. "But even I know the difference between a toy and a weapon."

He couldn't take it anymore. Helmeppo dropped to the ground with his hands covering his head. "I get it! I get it already! I won't cause anymore trouble, so please just stop!"

Everyone was silent. The only noise that could be heard were the crowing of birds in the distance. The other marines, who had become mere spectators, couldn't believe their minds. Did this really just happen? Someone had actually taken down their Captain and his son? They all stared at Luffy.

"What?" He asked "Oh, if you're wondering about this thing…" He pointed at the gun in his hand, "It's a toy." He pulled the trigger and a small spurt of water came out.

Suddenly, everyone erupted into celebration and crowded around Luffy and Coby.

"Huh? What's going on?" Coby asked as they began to lift him and Luffy above their shoulders and started cheering their names.

"Who cares?" Luffy shouted over the noise, "It looks like it's time to PARTY!"

And that was exactly how Rei and Zoro found Luffy and Coby when they rushed to the roof. Instead of seeing an intense battle between two Captains, they found a wild party going on. While Morgan was still unconscious with his son crying right next to him, Luffy and Coby were still being hoisted into the air with music blasting in the background.

"What…" Rei began, her mouth wide open.

Zoro quickly walked towards them to grab a cup of sake that was being passed around.

"… the fuck." She finished.


	4. Chapter 3

**Everyone... I'm really sorry, I've lost the motivation to continue this story. That's why I took so long to post this chapter, I'm so sorry guys but this will be the last chapter that I post of this story... Nah, just kidding! ;) I wonder how many people I just scared? But seriously though, the real reason why I took so long was mainly because of school work and exams. :( I'm so sorry for the wait, everyone, but I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

In the midst of the 23rd marine training base, 90 trainees walked out of their cabins expecting to find their usual instructor, but instead found one Monkey D. Luffy stretching his legs with a turkey leg in his mouth.

"Yo!" Luffy cheered as he began to stretch his arms.

"Where… Where is Instructor Locket?" one of them asked.

"Took the day off." He explained with his mouth still full, "So you get me today! Just wait a bit while I finish stretching."

They all stared in shock at this new face who seemed like he didn't have a single serious bone in his body.

"Shouldn't you get them to line up or something?" Rei yawned as she walked towards them.

"Rei!" Luffy's face lit up, "What are you doing here?"

Her face immediately turned gloomy as she gritted her teeth and muttered "I got in trouble for tying up some guys at the base the other day and this is my punishment. What about you? I didn't know that you would be here today."

He scratched his head, "Oh… about that…"

* * *

 **Yesterday**

"I want Coby to be in my crew, starting now." Luffy demanded.

Garp sighed as he continued to organize the papers on his desks. When Luffy came barging into his office, he knew that it would only be for some selfish request.

"Luffy, if you want to request a certain individual to be a part of your unit, then you need to file the proper paperworks which could take months for it to be even looked at. Even then, Coby would still have to go to a training camp before he can go out into the field. And you of all people should know how long that could take!"

Luffy pouted and just stared big puppy dog eyes at him.

Garp rubbed his temple, "Weren't you complaining about a wimpy short kid when you called me after your Alvida mission? Why the sudden change of heart?"

He sat down on the chair across from Garp's desk, "After what happened in Shells Town, he became a little less wimpy. I think he's starting to become a little more interesting. He's still short though."

"Bwahahaha!" Garp laughed as he stood up, walked around his desk, and clapped Luffy on the back (a little too hard).

"Ouch!" Luffy cried, "What was that for?!"

When he finally finished laughing, he wiped his eyes and sat down on top of his desk. "That was my 'congratulations' slap!" When he noticed Luffy's confused look, he continued, "You're finally starting to grow up a little! The way you feel about Coby right now is the same feeling that a teacher has for their student! You saw some potential in Coby, so now you want to help him develop that potential and see where he goes." Noticing that Luffy had fallen asleep, Garp smacked him on the head and shouted "Wake up!"

"Ouch!" He cried again.

"Pay attention when someone's talking to you!"

Rubbing his head, Luffy asked "So can he be in my crew or not?!"

Garp sighed in frustration, "Listen, and I mean really listen this time!" He held up his fist threateningly. "I'll make a deal with you okay? Some of the instructors at the training base have been complaining about being overworked. So if you help instruct the recruits at the training base tomorrow, then I'll pull some strings and let Coby join your unit after one month."

"One month?! That's too long!" Luffy shouted.

"That's the best I can do so either take it or leave it!" Garp shouted back.

Luffy was silent for a moment with his eyebrows scrunched together. "... Fine."

Garp grinned "Good! Be there at 6 o'clock sharp tomorrow!"

* * *

 **Present**

"So that's why I'm here!" Luffy finished.

Rei smiled "That's so sweet how you would do that for Coby!"

He scratched his head "Yeah, well… it's not really a big deal. I kind of missed being here…This place brings back a lot of memories…" Before Rei could question him about it, Luffy cleared his throat and asked, "So um… why is Zoro here?"

He pointed at a single green haired figure who was standing at the side by himself. With his arms crossed, Zoro glared at anyone who dared to glance at him. He was emitting a murderous aura that kept everyone away from him.

Rei laughed "He got in trouble too for hurting some guys at the base the other day. They must be really desperate if they even want him to instruct today. Or perhaps this is just a scheme to convince him to join the marines?" She snickered at the thought of Zoro in uniform.

"What the hell are you laughing at?!" Zoro demanded as he walked towards them.

She only laughed harder as she struggled to gasp out "You... in… a… sailor boy outfit!"

"Go to hell." He growled at her through clenched teeth.

"Already been there." She batted her eyelashes innocently.

"Shishishi! I think it's about time that we get started!" Luffy declared before he took a deep breath and shouted "EVERYONE, LINE UP!"

All of the trainees immediately got into their positions. As they stood there waiting for further instructions, they sweatdropped as Luffy began to pace in front of them, eyeballing every single one of them. Finally, he walked back towards Zoro and Rei. Then the three of them crossed their arms and tilted their heads to the side in confusion.

"What are we even supposed to do with them?" Zoro asked.

"Beats me." Rei shrugged her shoulders.

"Lunch break?" Luffy suggested.

Rei glared at him before demanding "Weren't you once a trainee here too? Shouldn't you know what to do?!"

"Hold on!" Zoro pointed at Rei, "What about you?! You're a marine so you should've gone to this stupid camp thing too! So what are you acting so lost for?!"

She smiled smugly "I was accepted for this job under special circumstances so I wasn't required to join a training camp."

"Damn witch." He muttered under his breath, "Probably casted some spell and hypnotized them to let you in…"

"I heard that!" She shouted while pinching his ear.

"Um… We should really get started…" A quiet voice came from the back row of the line up of trainees. Everyone turned their head towards the pink haired boy with glasses who had spoken up.

Luffy cleared his throat "Yeah, you're right. How about we start by splitting everyone into groups of three? Then Zoro, Rei, and I could each lead one group."

"Fine with me." Zoro grunted.

"Yeah, sounds good!" Rei agreed.

"Yosh!" Luffy pumped his fists in the air before shouting "I get first pick!"

Everyone sweatdropped as Luffy sprinted towards the trainees and twisted and turned around them all as he began to pick out what seemed to be a completely random group of people.

Coby waited in anticipation when Luffy finally got to the very last row. 'He'll definitely pick me too! I can't wait to be a part of Luffy's group!'

"27, 28, 29...30." Luffy finished, skipping Coby and stopping at the person right next to him instead.

Coby blinked his eyes, surprised that Luffy hadn't picked him. "Huh?" He asked out loud.

"Alright, everyone that I picked will come with me this way." Luffy announced.

"Eh?" Coby began in a voice barely above a whisper, "B-but… wait…"

"Let's go." Luffy walked past him with his group, ignoring him the entire time.

Coby's face fell as he continued to watch Luffy's group walk away. He felt ashamed and embarrassed of himself for believing that Luffy would favour him after what happened in Shell's Town. That he would be able to immediately start his training with the person he had recently begun to admire.

Zoro, who had witnessed everything, went up to Coby and said in a quiet voice "Let's go. You're with me today."

He went with Zoro with the rest of their group following behind them.

When he noticed that Coby still seemed to be depressed, he lightly smacked him on the back of his head and said "Relax, will ya?! It's not the end of the world that Luffy didn't pick you! It's impossible for anyone to try to understand him…"

"I know it's not the end of the world!" He cried, "But I just wanted to…"

"You wanted to what?" Zoro demanded, "Train with Luffy and only him? So you could forever become his shadow and have him guide you through everything? You'll never grow as your own person if you stay like that! He may have specifically asked for you to join his crew, but that doesn't mean he's going to interfere with everything you do from now on! He's just not that kind of Captain, you know?"

Coby sighed "Yeah, you're right."

However, still seeing the troubled expression on Coby's face, Zoro sighed too and admitted, "When I was still on the boat that was arriving here this morning… I heard a little rumour about Luffy."

Coby looked at Zoro's face, newly interested in what he was saying.

Zoro continued as he looked into the distance at Luffy's group. "It wasn't anything horrible. Just that when Luffy was still a trainee, he had to stay here for three years."

Coby almost choked "Three years?! The most time that anyone ever spends at a training base is only one year!"

Zoro laughed "Apparently he wasn't the greatest fighter back then, so they had to hold him back a few years." When the shock on Coby's face was replaced with a look of sympathy, Zoro nodded in Luffy's direction "Take a really good look at the people in his group."

Coby did as he was told, and with a closer inspection, he noticed that they all had something in common. They all looked… well… unfit. It was a group full of nervous, out of shape trainees who you wouldn't look twice at.

'They're just like me.' Coby realized.

"Why did Luffy…" Coby began to ask.

"Choose to train a bunch of incompetent wussies?" He said bluntly. Coby noded shyly.

"Perhaps he felt like he could relate to them more." Zoro mused, "Perhaps he wanted to personally help them and encourage them for the tough life they're about to have. Who knows? No one will ever be able to understand what he's thinking." He shrugged his shoulders. "But the point is that you're here with me and not with Luffy. Which means that Luffy himself believes that you're a fully capable person who doesn't need to always rely on him."

Coby stayed silent for another moment; long enough for Zoro to wonder if he was still upset.

Finally Coby smiled "For someone who says no one could ever understand Luffy, you sure seem like you understand him pretty well."

"Sometimes I wonder about that as well…" Zoro sighed.

"Heeeeeeeeey!" They all turned their heads to find Rei shouting at them from the distance, "Slacking off already, Zoro? We just started!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" He yelled back at her.

She smirked "Use your eyes a little and look around you."

Zoro did as he was told and saw that his group of trainees had wandered off into their own smaller groups to fool around while Zoro had been talking to Coby. Meanwhile, Luffy and Rei's group of trainees were hard at work.

"Everyone get back in line!" Zoro growled. Apparently, no one had heard him and they all continued what they were doing.

Rei laughed, "If you need some pointers on how to get people to listen to you, then I'm happy to help!"

This only enraged Zoro more as he emitted a murderous intent, "Get. Back. In. Line. NOW!" He shouted, earning him a surprised "Eep!" from Coby. This time, everyone heard him and quickly rushed into their positions in front of Zoro.

Zoro glared at Rei "I'm not losing to you."

She raised an eyebrow in surprise, "I didn't know this was a competition."

"Does that mean you forfeit?" He asked.

She put her finger on her chin while she thought about it for a moment before saying, "No."

"Good." Zoro smirked before turning his attention back to his trainees. They all shuddered from the evil smile that he was giving them. "Run." Was the only thing that he said. When they gave him a confused look, he slowly started to unsheathe one of his swords. They all got the message and began to run for their lives. To where and for how long, they were too panicked to ask.

Zoro gave one last smirk to Rei, "I'm going to win."

"Oh no you're not!" She quickly turned to her own trainees who were doing 200 pushups. "Make that another 200 pushups!" Rei ordered. They all looked up from her in surprise. "Another 300." She glared at them. They quickly went back to doing their pushups without another word. The trainees soon realized that this was going to be a very long day.

* * *

 **To be honest, this chapter was mostly just an introduction to the next chapter...**

 **Next time, you'll learn more about Luffy's past while he was still a new recruit. You'll also find out just how scary of an instructor that Rei and Zoro can be! What are they competing for? Who's going to win? Who knows! I don't even know yet...**

 **So summer vacation started but unfortunately, I start summer school soon. :( I'm not sure how much free time that will leave me to write but if you drop a review, it might motivate me to post again soon. :)**


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